GTA holds 4-day training camp for 50 tourist guides

Darjeeling: The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) is all set to promote safe and green tourism in the Hills by providing training to tourist guides. With the recent spate of death of tourists, especially in the high reaches of Sandakphu, this move is

set to bring respite.

Dawa Gyalpo Sherpa, Chief Coordinator, Adventure Tourism department, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, while talking to Millennium Post, stated: “The Ministry Of Tourism, Government of India along with Adventure Tour Operators Association of India and department of tourism, GTA has organised the four-day training camp for 50 guides in Darjeeling. The course is on responsible adventure tourism.” The course also incorporates wilderness

first aid. “This will help promote responsible adventure tourism with the guides being trained to provide the first line of intervention during medical emergencies in the wild and rugged terrain with hardly any access to medical facilities.

They are being trained to provide assistance in fall injuries, fractures and also administer CPR. Oxygen cans and cylinders are being made mandatory for homestays, lodges and vehicles

in Sandakphu.

All this will definitely bring respite to the situation whereby there were a number of tourist deaths following difficulty in breathing,” stated Sherpa. He further stated that the GTA Tourism department was also working in close coordination with the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

and the police.

The SSB guards the India Nepal and India Bhutan borders. As in past instances, recently they had provided medical assistance to a woman visiting Sandakphu, thereby saving her life.

The training, which will be completed with the handing over of certificates on January 18, is being held at the Gorkha Ranga Mancha Bhawan in Darjeeling.

“The training also includes how eco-friendly green sustainable tourism can be practiced and promoted, including avoiding use of plastic in high altitude areas and forests, along with how toilets should be set up in camps and how they should be covered up post dismantling,” added Sherpa. Sandakphu, located at an altitude of 11,930 feet is the highest point of Bengal and a famous trekking spot.

The nearest medical facility to Sandakphu is the Sukhiapokhri Primary Health Centre, located 39 km away- a distance that too in treacherous terrain, too far in times of medical emergencies.

Initially, a trekking destination, with a motorable road now leading to Sandakphu, it is fast evolving into a mass tourist destination, with the allure of viewing the magnificent Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest and the Kanchenjunga, attracting huge number of tourists, mostly novice about mountains and high altitude destinations, making them vulnerable. The year 2024 alone saw 3 tourist

deaths in Sandakphu.